"
He confessed the whole matter; acknowledged that he was on his back;
and now he had a prospect of a fit of the horrors for a week, and of
being worse than useless for months. This is a specimen of the life of
half of the Americans and English who are adrift over the whole of
California. One of the same stamp was Russell, who was master of the
hide-house at San Diego, while I was there, and afterwards turned away
for his misconduct. He spent his own money and nearly all the stores
among the half-bloods upon the beach, and being turned away, went up
to the Presidio, where he lived the life of a desperate "loafer,"
until some rascally deed sent him off "between two days," with men
on horseback, dogs, and Indians in full cry after him, among the
hills. One night, he burst into our room at the hide-house,
breathless, pale as a ghost, covered with mud, and torn by thorns
and briers, nearly naked, and begged for a crust of bread, saying he
had neither eaten nor slept for three days. Here was the great Mr.
Russell, who a month before was "Don Tomas," Capitan de la playa,"
"Maestro de la casa," etc.
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